Programmable structured arrays

ABSTRACT

A programmable semiconductor device includes a user programmable switch comprising a configurable element is positioned above a transistor material layer deposited on a substrate layer.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 11/403,118filed Jan. 29, 2008, which is a continuation of application Ser. No.10/727,170 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,030,651) filed on Dec. 4, 2003, and listas inventor Mr. R. U. Madurawe, the contents of which are incorporatedherein by reference. This application is related to application Ser.Nos. 10/267,483, 10/267,484 (now abandoned) and Ser. No. 10/267,511 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,747,478) all of which were filed on Oct. 8, 2002 andlist as inventor Mr. R. U. Madurawe, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to application Ser. No. 10/413,809 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,856,030), Ser. No. 10/413,808 (now abandoned) and Ser.No. 10/413,810 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,828,689), all of which were filedApr. 14, 2003 and list as inventor Mr. R. U. Madurawe, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

This application is further related to application Ser. No. 11/102,855filed Apr. 1, 2005 and Ser. No. 11/355,930 filed on 02/1720/06, both ofwhich list as inventor Mr. R. U. Madurawe, the contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to programmable structured arrays forsemiconductor integrated circuits.

Traditionally, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) deviceshave been used in the integrated circuit (IC) industry to reduce cost,enhance performance or meet space constraints. The generic class of ASICdevices falls under a variety of sub classes such as Custom ASIC,Standard cell ASIC, Gate Array and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)where the degree of user allowed customization varies. In thisdisclosure the word ASIC is used only in reference to Custom andStandard Cell ASICs, and reference to remaining ICs such as FPGA andGate Arrays will be by their sub-classification. The devices FPGAinclude Programmable Logic Devices (PLD) and Complex Programmable LogicDevices (CPLD), while the devices Gate Array include Laser ProgrammableGate Arrays (LPGA), Mask Programmable Gate Arrays (MPGA) and a new classof devices known as Structured ASIC or Structured Arrays.

The design and fabrication of ASICs can be time consuming and expensive.The customization involves a lengthy design cycle during the productdefinition phase and high Non Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs duringmanufacturing phase. In the event of finding a logic error in the customor semi-custom ASIC during final test phase, the design and fabricationcycle has to be repeated. Such lengthy correction cycles furtheraggravate the time to market and engineering cost. As a result, ASICsserve only specific applications and are custom built for high volumeand low cost. The high cost of masks and unpredictable device life timeshipment volumes have caused ASIC design starts to fall precipitously inthe IC industry. ASICs offer no device for off the shelf verification,no user customization capability and requires a full custom mask set forfabrication.

Gate Array customizes pre-defined modular blocks at a reduced NRE costby synthesizing the module connections with a software model similar tothe ASIC. The Gate Array has an array of non programmable functionalmodules fabricated on a semiconductor substrate. To interconnect thesemodules to a user specification, multiple layers of wires are usedduring a synthesis process. The level of customization may be limited toa single metal layer, or single via layer, or multiple metal layers, ormultiple metals and via layers. The goal is to reduce the customizationcost to the user, and provide the customized product faster. As aresult, the customizable layers are designed to be the top most metaland via layers of a semiconductor fabrication process. This is aninconvenient location to customize wires. The customized transistors arelocated at the substrate level of the Silicon. All possible connectionshave to come up to the top level metal. The complexity of bringing upconnections is a severe constraint for these devices. Structured ASICsfall into larger module Gate Arrays. These devices discussed in Or-BachU.S. Pat. No. 6,331,789, How et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,767, U.S. Pat.No. 6,613,611 have varying degrees of complexity in the structured celland varying degrees of complexity in the custom interconnection. Theabsence of silicon for design verification and design optimizationresults in multiple spins and lengthy design iterations to the end user.The Gate Array evaluation phase is no different to that of an ASIC. Theadvantage over ASIC is in a lower upfront NRE cost for the fewercustomization layers, tools and labor. Gate Arrays offer no device foroff the shelf verification, metallization based user customizationduring synthesis and requires a partial custom mask set for fabrication.

In recent years there has been a move away from custom, semi-custom andGate Array ICs toward field programmable components whose function isdetermined not when the integrated circuit is fabricated, but by an enduser “in the field” prior to use. Off the shelf FPGA products greatlysimplify the design cycle and are fully customized by the user. Theseproducts offer user-friendly software to fit custom logic into thedevice through programmability, and the capability to tweak and optimizedesigns to improve silicon performance. Provision of thisprogrammability is expensive in terms of silicon real estate, butreduces design cycle time, time to solution (TTS) and upfront NRE costto the designer. FPGAs offer the advantages of low NRE costs, fastturnaround (designs can be placed and routed on an FPGA in typically afew minutes), and low risk since designs can be easily amended late inthe product design cycle. It is only for high volume production runsthat there is a cost benefit in using the other two approaches. Comparedto FPGA, an ASIC and Gate Array both have hard-wired logic connections,identified during the chip design phase. ASIC has no multiple logicchoices and both ASIC and Gate Arrays have no configuration memory tocustomize logic. This is a large chip area and a product cost saving forthese approach to design. Smaller die sizes also lead to betterperformance. A full custom ASIC has customized logic functions whichtake less gate counts compared to Gate Arrays, PLD and FPGAconfigurations of the same functions. Thus, an ASIC is significantlysmaller, faster, cheaper and more reliable than an equivalent gate-countPLD or FPGA. A Gate Array is also smaller, faster and cheaper comparedto an equivalent FPGA. The trade-off is between time-to-market (PLD andFPGA advantage) versus low cost and better reliability (ASIC advantage).A Gate Array falls in the middle with an improvement in the ASIC NREcost at a moderate penalty to product cost and performance. The cost ofSilicon real estate for programmability provided by the PLD and FPGAcompared to ASIC and Gate Array contribute to a significant portion ofthe extra cost the user has to bear for customer re-configurability inlogic functions.

In a PLD and an FPGA, a complex logic design is broken down to smallerlogic blocks and programmed into logic blocks provided in the FPGA.Logic blocks contain multiple smaller logic elements. Logic elementsfacilitates sequential and combinational logic design implementations.Combinational logic has no memory and outputs reflect a function solelyof present inputs. Sequential logic is implemented by inserting memoryinto the logic path to store past history. Current PLD and FPGAarchitectures include transistor pairs, NAND or OR gates, multiplexers,look-up-tables (LUTs) and AND-OR structures in a basic logic element. Ina PLD the basic logic element is labeled a macro-cell. Hereafter theterminology FPGA will include both FPGAs and PLDs, and the terminologylogic element will include both logic elements and macro-cells.Granularity of an FPGA refers to logic content of the basic logicelement. Smaller blocks of a complex logic design are customized to fitinto FPGA grain. In fine-grain architectures, a small basic logicelement is enclosed in a routing matrix and replicated. These offer easylogic fitting at the expense of complex routing. In course-grainarchitectures, many basic logic elements are combined with local routingand wrapped in a routing matrix to form a large logic block. The largerlogic block is then replicated with global routing. Larger logic blocksmake the logic fitting difficult and the routing easier. A challenge forFPGA architectures is to provide easy logic fitting (like fine-grain)and maintain easy routing (like course-grain).

A logic element used in Gate Arrays is called a structured cell or amodule. These cells can also include transistor pairs, NAND or OR gates,MUXs and LUTs. To include sequential logic designs, the structured cellmay also include flip-flops. An exemplary logic element, or a structuredcell, or a module, described in Ref-1 (Seals & Whapshott) is shown inFIG. 1A. The logic element has a built in D-flip-flop 105 for sequentiallogic implementation. In addition, elements 101, 102 and 103 are 2:1MUX's controlled by one input signal for each MUX. Input S1 feeds into101 and 102, while inputs S1 and S2 feeds into OR gate 104, and theoutput from OR gate feeds into 103. Element 105 is the D-Flip-Flopreceiving Preset, Clear and Clock signals. Ignoring the global Preset &Clear signals, eight inputs feed the logic block, and one output leavesthe logic block. All two-input, most 2-input and some 3-input variablefunctions are realized in the logic block and latched to theD-Flip-Flop. Inputs and outputs for the Logic Element or Logic Block areselected from the programmable Routing Matrix. An exemplary routingmatrix containing logic elements as described in Ref-1 is shown in FIG.1B. Each logic element 112 is as shown in FIG. 1A. The 8 inputs and 1output from logic element 112 in FIG. 1B are routed to 22 horizontal and12 vertical interconnect wires that have programmable via connections110. These connections 110 may be anti-fuses or pass-gate transistorscontrolled by SRAM memory elements. The user selects how the wires areconnected during the design phase, and programs the connections in thefield. FPGA architectures for various commercially available devices arediscussed in Ref-1 (Seals & Whapshott) as well as Ref-2 (Sharma). Acomprehensive thesis on FPGA routing architecture is provided in Ref-3(Betz, Rose & Marquardt).

A Gate Array routing matrix is shown in FIG. IC with the same logicelement 122 as shown in FIG. 1A. The 8 inputs and 1 output of logicelement 122 in FIG. IC are hard wired into an array of logic and amultiplicity of potential connections are brought up to a lower metallayer, below the customizable metal layer. Two orthogonal metal layersare shown in FIG. IC with either one being the top metal (say dottedlines) and the other the metal below the top metal (say solid lines).The top metal mask has to be customized to complete all the logicconnections as specified by the design to connect the plurality of logicelements 122. This is achieved by laying top metal in the pre-definedtracks and connecting them to lower metal at via connections 121accordingly. Pads are similarly connected to top metal as assigned inthe design. Circle 121 represents a pre-defined top metal connection toa lower metal. To account for inefficiency in track utilization, excesswires at a higher chip area compared to an ASIC must be provided. TheX-Y connection matrix may be completed by a single custom mask of thetop metal in theory, but a multi-metal customization is more practicalto achieve. Solid lines and via connections in FIG. 1C pre-exist and donot change during the one mask customization. Inputs and outputs oflogic elements 122 are connected to synthesized dotted metal lines andcustomized in top metal to complete interconnection. Clock skews andinefficient utilization of metal tracks complicates the design andincreases the NRE cost. Access to all metal layers for the customizationmakes synthesis and fixing clock skews easier at the expense of highermask costs and longer fabrication delay. Some commercial Gate Arraysolutions offer four metal layers to customize the interconnect as it isdifficult to get all the possible logic element connections into topmetal layer.

FPGA architectures are discussed in Hartmann U.S. Pat. No. 4,609,986,Carter U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,216, Turner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,768,Freemann U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,302, ElGamal et al. U.S. Pat. No.4,873,459, Freemann et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,316 & U.S. Pat. No.5,343,406, Tsui et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,405, Trimberger et al. U.S.Pat. No. 5,844,422, Cliff et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,134,173, Mendel U.S.Pat. No. 6,275,065, Young et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,448,808, andSugibayashi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,515,511. These patents disclosespecialized routing blocks to connect logic elements in FPGA's andmacro-cells in PLD's. In all cases the routing block is programmed todefine inputs and outputs for the logic blocks, while the logic block isprogrammed to perform a specific logic function.

Four exemplary methods of programmable point to point connectionssynonymous with programmable switches, between node A and node B areshown in FIG. 2. These form connections 110 in FIG. 1B where node A islocated in a first wire and node B is located in a second wire. Aconfiguration circuit to program the connection is not shown in FIG. 2.All the patents listed under FPGA architecture use one or more of thesebasic programmable connections. In FIG. 2A, a conductive fuse link 210connects A to B. It is normally connected, and passage of a high currentor exposure to a laser beam will blow the conductor open. In FIG. 2B, acapacitive anti-fuse element 220 disconnects A to B. It is normallyopen, and passage of a high current will pop the insulator shorting thetwo terminals. Fuse and anti-fuse are both one time programmable due tothe non-reversible nature of the change. In FIG. 2C, a pass-gate device230 connects A to B. The gate signal S₀ determines the nature of theconnection, on or off. This is a non destructive change. The gate signalis generated by manipulating logic signals, or by configuration circuitsthat include memory. The choice of memory varies from user to user. InFIG. 2D, a floating-pass-gate device 240 connects A to B. Control gatesignal S₀ couples a portion of that to floating gate. Electrons trappedin the floating gate determines an on or off state for the connection.Hot-electrons and Fowler-Nordheim tunneling are two mechanisms forinjecting charge to floating-gates. When high quality insulatorsencapsulate the floating gate, trapped charge stays for over 10 years.These provide non-volatile memory. EPROM, EEPROM and Flash memory employfloating-gates and are non-volatile. Anti-fuse and SRAM basedarchitectures are widely used in commercial FPGA's, while EPROM, EEPROM,anti-fuse and fuse links are widely used in commercial PLD's. VolatileSRAM memory needs no high programming voltages, is freely available inevery logic process, is compatible with standard CMOS SRAM memory, lendsto process and voltage scaling and has become the de-facto choice formodern day very large FPGA device construction.

A volatile six transistor SRAM based configuration circuit is shown inFIG. 3A. The SRAM memory element can be any one of 6-transistor,5-transistor, full CMOS, R-load or TFT PMOS load based cells to name afew. Two inverters 303 and 304 connected back to back forms the memoryelement. This memory element is a latch. The latch can be constructed asfull CMOS, R-load, PMOS load or any other. Power and ground terminalsfor the inverters are not shown in FIG. 3A. Access NMOS transistors 301and 302, and access wires GA, GB, BL and BS provide the means toconfigure the memory element. Applying zero and one on BL and BSrespectively, and raising GA and GB high enables writing zero intodevice 301 and one into device 302. The output S₀ delivers a logic one.Applying one and zero on BL and BS respectively, and raising GA and GBhigh enables writing one into device 301 and zero into device 302. Theoutput S₀ delivers a logic zero. The SRAM construction may allowapplying only a zero signal at BL or BS to write data into the latch.The SRAM cell may have only one access transistor 301 or 302. The SRAMlatch will hold the data state as long as power is on. When the power isturned off, the SRAM bit needs to be restored to its previous state froman outside permanent memory. In the literature for programmable logic,this second non-volatile memory is also called configuration memory.Upon power up, an external or an internal CPU loads the externalconfiguration memory to internal configuration memory locations. All ofFPGA functionality is controlled by the internal configuration memory.The SRAM configuration circuit in FIG. 3A controlling logic pass-gate isillustrated in FIG. 3B. Element 350 represents the configurationcircuit. The S₀ output directly driven by the memory element in FIG. 3Adrives the pass-gate 310 gate electrode. In addition to S₀ output andthe memory cell, power, ground, data in and write enable signals in 350constitutes the SRAM configuration circuit. Write enable circuitryincludes GA, GB, BL, BS signals shown in FIG. 3A.

Structured ASIC described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,331,789 contains SRAM based3-input LUTs to enhance logic flexibility similar to FPGAs described inU.S. Pat. No. 4,706,216, U.S. Pat. No. 4,870,302, U.S. Pat. No.5,488,316, U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,406, U.S. Pat. No. 5,844,422 and U.S.Pat. No. 6,134,173. LUT programmability at silicon substrate level mayreduce the number of wires required to connect all the modules at anupper metal layer. Packing logic into 3-input or 4-input pre-fabricatedLUTs is fairly inefficient and costly compared to the logic elementshown in FIG. 1A. Clock skew and track inefficiencies are stillencountered during simulation and difficult to fix with these devices.Once the metal is hard-wired to a suitable logic placement, thestructured ASIC is very inflexible to design tweaks and changes. Modulefunction, module placements and wire connections all change during atiming or cost driven optimization of a design. When the wires arefixed, there is no method to change the module placement in the fixedmodule locations. Thus programmable LUT based structured cells addlittle value over hard-wire structured cells shown in FIG. 1. They bothprovide no off-the-shelf emulation device, like an FPGA, where thecustomer can change and tweak a design in real Silicon. Such anemulation device could be plugged into a system debug board and furtherused for early design wins and provided to customers as first samples.

What is desirable is to have programmable version to a structured ASICdevice at the beginning of a design cycle. The user can program such anoff-the-shelf device, place logic and routing at an optimal location toimprove timing or cost of said design. The flexibility is furtherenhanced when the logic element contains programmable elements such asLUTs. For an emulation device, the cost of programmability is not aconcern if such a device lends to easy design porting to a hard-wire lowcost version once the design is finalized. Such a conversion has to keepthe timing of the original design intact to avoid valuablere-engineering time and cost. Such a conversion should lower the endproduct cost to be competitive with an equivalent standard cell ASICcost for design opportunities that forecast fairly significant volumes.These programmable structured ASIC devices will target applications thatare cost sensitive, have short life cycles and demand volumes largerthan for typical FPGA designs and lower than for typical ASIC designs.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a programmable semiconductor device includes aprogrammable switch to couple two nodes; and a configurable element toprogram said switch wherein the configurable element and the switch arepositioned above or below a transistor element constructed on asemiconductor substrate layer.

In another aspect, programmable semiconductor device includes a userprogrammable switch comprising a configurable element and a device toconfigure the element are positioned above or below a transistor elementconstructed on a semiconductor substrate layer.

In yet another aspect, a programmable semiconductor device includes aprogrammable switch comprising a configurable element is positionedabove or below a transistor element.

Implementations of the above aspects may include one or more of thefollowing. A semiconductor integrated circuit comprises an array ofstructured sells or modules. These modules may use one or more metallayers to partially connect them. A programmable interconnect structuremay be used to customize a specific interconnect pattern by the user.Said interconnect structure is formed above said structured cell array.In one embodiment, the programmable structure may include the upper mostmetal layer. In a second embodiment, additional metal layers may beformed above said interconnect structure to complete the functionalityof the integrated circuit and form connections to input and output pads.Said interconnect structure comprises a programmable switch. Most commonswitch is a pass-gate device. A pass-gate is an NMOS transistor, a PMOStransistor or a CMOS transistor pair that can electrically connect twopoints. Other methods of connecting two points include fuse links andanti-fuse capacitors. Yet other methods to connect two points mayinclude an electrochemical cell. Programming these devices includeforming one of either a conducting path or a non-conducting path.

The gate electrode signal on said pass-gates allows a programmablemethod of controlling an on and off connection. A plurality of pass-gatelogic is included in said wire programmable structure. The structure mayinclude circuits consisting of CMOS transistors comprising AND, NAND,INVERT, OR, NOR and pass-gate type logic circuits. Multiple logiccircuits may be combined into a larger logic block. Configurationcircuits are used to change programmable wire connectivity.Configuration circuits have memory elements and access circuitry tochange memory data. Each memory element can be a transistor or a diodeor a group of electronic devices. The memory elements can be made ofCMOS devices, capacitors, diodes, resistors and other electroniccomponents. The memory elements can be made of thin film devices such asthin film transistors (TFT), thin-film capacitors and thin-film diodes.The memory element can be selected from the group consisting of volatileand non volatile memory elements. The memory element can also beselected from the group comprising fuses, antifuses, SRAM cells, DRAMcells, optical cells, metal optional links, EPROMs, EEPROMs, flash,magnetic and ferro-electric elements. One or more redundant memoryelements can be provided for controlling the same circuit block. Thememory element can generate an output signal to control pass-gate logic.Memory element can generate a signal that is used to derive a controlsignal. The control signal is coupled to pass-gate logic element, ANDarray, NOR array, a MUX or a Look-Up-Table (LUT) logic.

Structured cells are fabricated using a basic logic process capable ofmaking CMOS transistors. These transistors are formed on P-type, N-type,epi or SOI substrate wafer. Configuration circuits, includingconfiguration memory, constructed on same silicon substrate take up alarge Silicon foot print. That adds to the cost of programmable wirestructure compared to a similar functionality custom wire structure. A3-dimensional integration of pass-gate and configuration circuits toconnect wires provides a significant cost reduction. The pass-gates andconfiguration circuits may be constructed above one or more metallayers. Said metal layers may be used for intra and inter connection ofstructured cells. The programmable wire circuits may be formed above thestructured cell circuits by inserting a thin-film transistor (TFT)module. Said TFT module may be inserted at any via layer, in-between twometal layers of a logic process. The TFT module may include one or moremetal layers for local interconnect between TFT transistors. The TFTmodule may include salicided poly-silicon local interconnect lines. Thethin-film memory outputs may be directly coupled to gate electrodes ofthin-film pass-gates to provide programmable wire control. The TFTmodule may have buried contacts to short gate poly to active poly. Theseburied contacts may facilitate thin-film interconnect inside the TFTmodule. Via thru-holes may be used to connect TFT module to underneathmetal. The thru-holes may be filled with Titanium-Tungsten, Tungsten,Tungsten Silicide, or some other refractory metal. The thru-holes maycontain Nickel to assist Metal Induced Laser Crystallization (MILC) insubsequent processing. Memory elements may be constructed also with TFTtransistors, capacitors and diodes. The TFT layers may be restricted foronly for programmable wire connections. Metal layers above the TFTlayers may be used for all the other routing. This simple verticallyintegrated pass-gate switch and configuration circuit reducesprogrammable wire cost.

In a second aspect, a wire structure for an integrated circuit havingtwo selectable methods of connecting wires, comprises: a firstselectable method comprising programmable switches, each said switchcoupling a wire in a first set to a wire in a second set, and saidmethod providing a means to program a user defined interconnect patternbetween said first and second set of wires; and a second selectablemethod comprising permanent connections in lieu of said switches, saidpermanent connection pattern duplicating one of said user definedinterconnect patterns.

Implementations of the above aspect may include one or more of thefollowing. A programmable wire structure provides switches for a user tocustomize the interconnect pattern in a structured ASIC. This isprovided to the user in an off the shelf programmable wire product.There is no waiting and time lost to port a synthesized logic designinto a programmable wire device. This reduces time to solution (TTS) by6 moths to over a year. A programmable wire structure has thecustomization circuitry confined to a TFT layer above the fixedstructured cell layer. This TFT module may be inserted to a logicprocess. Manufacturing cost of TFT layers add extra cost to the finishedproduct. Once the programming is finalized by the user, the finalinterconnect pattern is fixed for most designs during product lifecycle. Programmable wire circuits are no longer needed. The user canconvert the design to a lower cost hard-wire custom device with anidentical interconnect pattern. The programmed connection is mapped to ametal connection in the hard-wire option. This may be done with a singlemetal mask in lieu of all of TFT layers in the second module. The firstmodule with structured cells does not change by this conversion. A thirdmodule may exist above the second module to complete interconnect forfunctionality of the end device. The third module also does not changewith the second module option. The propagation delays and critical pathtiming may be substantially identical between the two second moduleoptions. The TFT layers may allow a higher power supply voltage for theuser to emulate performance at reduced pass-gate resistances. Suchemulations may predict potential performance improvements for TFTpass-gates and hard-wired connected options. Duplicated hard-wirepattern may be done with a customized thru-hole mask. Customization maybe done with a thru-hole and a metal mask or a plurality of thru-holeand metal masks. Hard wire pattern may also improve reliability andreduce defect density of the final product. The hard-wire patternprovides a cost economical final structured ASIC to the user at a verylow NRE cost. The total solution provides a programmable and customizedsolution to the user.

In a third aspect, a semiconductor device for integrated circuits withtwo selectable manufacturing configurations, comprises: a first modulelayer having an array of structured cells, said module layer having atleast one layer of metal; and a second module layer formed substantiallyabove said first module layer comprising two selectable configurations,wherein: in a first selectable configuration a programmable interconnectstructure is formed to connect said structured cells, and in a secondselectable configuration a customized interconnect structure is formedto connect said structured cells.

Implementations of the above aspect may further include one or more ofthe following. The programmable interconnect structure comprises amemory element that can be selected from the group consisting ofvolatile or non volatile memory elements. The memory can be implementedusing a TFT process technology that contains one or more of Fuses,Anti-fuses, DRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, Flash, Ferro-Electric, optical,magnetic and SRAM elements. Configuration circuits may include thin filmelements such as diodes, transistors, resistors and capacitors. Theprocess implementation is possible with any memory technology where theprogrammable element is vertically integrated in a removable module. Theconfiguration circuit includes a predetermined conductive pattern inlieu of memory elements to control the logic in the structured circuits.The structured circuits may themselves be programmable with its ownprogrammable module separate from the wire programmable module. Multiplememory bits exist to customize wire connections. Each memory bit patternhas a corresponding unique conductive pattern to duplicate the samelogic connections. Circuit performance of the logic connection is notaffected by the choice of connecting option: programmable pass-gates orconductive pattern.

The programmable interconnect structure constitutes fabricating a VLSIIC product. The IC product is re-programmable in its initial stage withturnkey conversion to a one mask customized ASIC. The IC has the endASIC cost structure and initial FPGA re-programmability. The IC productoffering occurs in two phases: the first phase is a generic FPGA thathas re-programmability contained in a programmable wire structure, and asecond phase is an ASIC that has the entire programmable module replacedby one or two customized hard-wire masks. Both FPGA version and turnkeycustom ASIC has the same base die. The vertically integratedprogrammable module does not consume valuable silicon real estate of abase die. Furthermore, the design and layout of these product familiesadhere to removable module concept: ensuring the functionality andtiming of the product in its FPGA and ASIC canonicals. These IC productscan replace existing PLD's, CPLD's, FPGA's, Gate Arrays, StructuredASIC's and Standard Cell ASIC's. An easy turnkey customization of an endASIC from an original smaller cheaper and faster programmable structuredarray device would greatly enhance time to market, performance, productreliability and solution cost.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A shows an exemplary logic element or a structured module.

FIG. 1B shows an exemplary programmable wire structure utilizing astructured cell.

FIG. 1C shows an exemplary customizable hard-wire structure utilizing astructured cell.

FIG. 2A shows an exemplary fuse link point to point connection.

FIG. 2B shows an exemplary anti-fuse point to point connection.

FIG. 2C shows an exemplary pass-gate point to point connection.

FIG. 2D shows an exemplary floating-pass-gate point to point connection.

FIG. 3A shows an exemplary configuration circuit for a 6T SRAM element.

FIG. 3B shows an exemplary programmable pass-gate switch with SRAMmemory.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration circuit utilizing anti-fuse memoryelements.

FIG. 5A shows a first embodiment of a configuration circuit utilizing afloating-gate.

FIG. 5B shows a second embodiment of a configuration circuit utilizing afloating-gate.

FIG. 6 shows a 3-dimensional construction of a programmable wirestructure.

FIG. 7.1-7.7 shows process cross-sections of one embodiment to integratethin-film transistors into a logic process in accordance with thecurrent invention.

FIG. 7.8 shows one embodiment of incorporating seed metal into athru-hole prior to TFT formation: pre and post plug CMP via crosssections.

FIG. 7.9 shows a second embodiment of incorporating seed metal into athru-hole prior to TFT formation: pre and post plug CMP via crosssections.

FIG. 8 shows a pass-gate programmable switch mapped to hard-wires.

FIG. 9A shows a programmable 2:1 MUX construction with one SRAM controlbit.

FIG. 9B shows a first mapping of programmable 2:1 MUX to hard-wires.

FIG. 9C shows a second mapping of programmable 2:1 MUX to hard-wires.

FIG. 10A shows a programmable pass-gate with TFT SRAM memory element.

FIG. 10B shows the symbol for a TFT memory based programmable pass-gate.

FIG. 10C shows a 4×4 array of TFT memory based programmable pass-gates.

FIG. 10D shows a first mapping of 4×4 programmable array to a hard-wirearray.

FIG. 10E shows a second mapping of 4×4 programmable array to a hard-wirearray.

FIG. 11A shows a programmable TFT switch connecting a lower metal toupper metal.

FIG. 11B shows a programmable TFT switch connecting an upper metal toupper metal.

FIG. 11C shows a programmable TFT switch connecting a lower metal tolower metal.

FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of a programmable wire structure to replacethe custom hard-wire structure shown in FIG. 1C.

DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in whichis shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. These embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical,and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

Definitions: The terms wafer and substrate used in the followingdescription include any structure having an exposed surface with whichto form the integrated circuit (IC) structure of the invention. The termsubstrate is understood to include semiconductor wafers. The termsubstrate is also used to refer to semiconductor structures duringprocessing, and may include other layers that have been fabricatedthereupon. Both wafer and substrate include doped and undopedsemiconductors, epitaxial semiconductor layers supported by a basesemiconductor or insulator, SOI material as well as other semiconductorstructures well known to one skilled in the art. The term conductor isunderstood to include semiconductors, and the term insulator is definedto include any material that is less electrically conductive than thematerials referred to as conductors.

The term module layer includes a structure that is fabricated using aseries of predetermined process steps. The boundary of the structure isdefined by a first step, one or more intermediate steps, and a finalstep. The resulting structure is formed on a substrate.

The term pass-gate and switch refers to a structure that can pass asignal when on, and block signal passage when off. A pass-gate (andswitch) connects two points when on, and disconnects two points whenoff. A pass-gate can be a floating-gate transistor, an NMOS transistor,a PMOS transistor, a CMOS transistor pair, or a conductivity modulatorelement. The gate electrode of pass-gate or the conductivity ofconductivity modulator element determines the state of the connection. ACMOS pass-gate requires complementary signals coupled to NMOS and PMOSgate electrodes. A control logic signal is connected to gate electrodeof NMOS, PMOS & CMOS. Charge is trapped on floating gates. Conductivityis modulated in Ferro-electric & electro-chemical elements.

The term configuration circuit includes one or more configurableelements and connections that can be programmed for controlling one ormore circuit blocks in accordance with a predetermined user-desiredfunctionality. The configuration circuit includes the memory element andthe access circuitry, herewith called memory circuitry, to modify saidmemory element. Configuration circuit does not include the logicpass-gate controlled by said memory element. In one embodiment, theconfiguration circuit includes a plurality of memory circuits to storeinstructions to configure an FPGA. In another embodiment, theconfiguration circuit includes a first selectable configuration where aplurality of memory circuits is formed to store instructions to controlone or more circuit blocks. The configuration circuits include a secondselectable configuration with a predetermined conductive pattern formedin lieu of the memory circuit to control substantially the same circuitblocks. The memory circuit includes elements such as diode, transistor,resistor, capacitor, metal link, among others. The memory circuit alsoincludes thin film elements. In yet another embodiment, theconfiguration circuits include a predetermined conductive pattern, via,resistor, capacitor or other suitable circuits formed in lieu of thememory circuit to control substantially the same circuit blocks.

The term “horizontal” as used in this application is defined as a planeparallel to the conventional plane or surface of a wafer or substrate,regardless of the orientation of the wafer or substrate. The term“vertical” refers to a direction perpendicular to the horizontaldirection as defined above. Prepositions, such as “on”, “side”,“higher”, “lower”, “over” and “under” are defined with respect to theconventional plane or surface being on the top surface of the wafer orsubstrate, regardless of the orientation of the wafer or substrate. Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in alimiting sense.

An SRAM based point to point connection is shown in FIG. 3. The point topoint connection is made by utilizing a programmable pass-gate and aconfiguration circuit as shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 3A. Multiple inputs(node A) can be connected to multiple outputs (node B) with a pluralityof pass-gate logic elements. In FIG. 3B, pass-gate 310 can be a PMOS oran NMOS transistor. NMOS is preferred due to its higher conduction. Thegate voltage S₀ on NMOS transistor 310 gate electrode determines an ONor OFF connection. That logic level is generated by a configurationcircuit 350 coupled to the gate of NMOS transistor 310. The pass-gatelogic connection requires the configuration circuitry to generate signalS₀ with sufficient voltage levels to ensure off and on conditions. Foran NMOS pass-gate, S₀ having a logic level one completes the point topoint connection, while a logic level zero keeps them disconnected. Inaddition to using only an NMOS gate, a PMOS gate could also be used inparallel to make the connection. The configuration circuit 350 needs tothen provide complementary outputs (S₀ and S₀′) to control NMOS and PMOSgates in the connection. Configuration circuit 350 contains a memoryelement. Most CMOS SRAM memory delivers complementary outputs. Thismemory element can be configured by the user to select the polarity ofS₀, thereby selecting the state of the connection. The memory elementcan be volatile or non-volatile. In volatile memory, it could be DRAM,SRAM, Optical or any other type of a memory device that can output avalid signal S₀. In non-volatile memory it could be fuse, anti-fuse,EPROM, EEPROM, Flash, Ferro-Electric, Magnetic or any other kind ofmemory device that can output a valid signal S₀. The output S₀ can be adirect output coupled to the memory element, or a derived output in theconfiguration circuitry. An inverter can be used to restore S₀ signallevel to full rail voltage levels. The SRAM in configuration circuit 350can be operated at an elevated Vcc level to output an elevated S₀voltage level. This is especially feasible when the SRAM is built in aseparate TFT module. Other configuration circuits to generate a valid S₀signal are discussed next.

An anti-fuse based configuration circuit to use with this invention isshown next in FIG. 4. Configuration circuit 350 in FIG. 3B can bereplaced with the anti-fuse circuit shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, outputlevel S₀ is generated from node X which is coupled to signals VA and VBvia two anti-fuses 450 and 460 respectively. Node X is connected to aprogramming access transistor 470 controlled by gate signal GA and drainsignal BL. A very high programming voltage is needed to blow theanti-fuse capacitor. This programming voltage level is determined by theanti-fuse properties, including the dielectric thickness. Assertingsignal VA very high, VB low (typically ground), BL low and GA high (Vccto pass the ground signal) provides a current path from VA to BL throughthe on transistor 470. A high voltage is applied across anti-fuse 450 topop the dielectric and short the terminals. Similarly anti-fuse 460 canbe programmed by selecting VA low, VB very high, BL low and GA high.Only one of the two anti-fuses is blown to form a short. When theprogramming is done, BL and GA are returned to zero, isolating node Xfrom the programming path. VA=Vss (ground) and VB=Vcc (power, orelevated Vcc) is applied to the two signal lines. Depending on the blownfuse, signal S₀ will generate a logic low or a logic high signal. Thisis a one time programmable memory device. Node X will be alwaysconnected to VA or VB by the blown fuse regardless of the device powerstatus. Signals GA and BL are constructed orthogonally to facilitate rowand column based decoding to construct these memory elements in anarray.

FIG. 5 shows two EEPROM non-volatile configuration circuits that can beused in this invention. Configuration circuit 350 in FIG. 3B can bereplaced with either of two EEPROM circuit shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B.In FIG. 5A, node 540 is a floating gate. This is usually a poly-siliconfilm isolated by an insulator all around. It is coupled to the sourceend of programming transistor 520 via a tunneling diode 530. Thetunneling diode is a thin dielectric capacitor between floating poly andsubstrate silicon with high doping on either side. When a largeprogramming (or erase) voltage Vpp is applied across the thindielectric, a Fowler-Nordheim tunneling current flows through the oxide.The tunneling electrons move from electrical negative to electricalpositive voltage. Choosing the polarity of the applied voltage acrossthe tunneling dielectric, the direction of electron flow can bereversed. Multiple programming and erase cycles are possible for thesememory elements. As the tunneling currents are small, the highprogramming voltage (Vpp) can be generated on chip, and the programmingand erasure can be done while the chip is in a system. It is hencecalled in system programmable (ISP). An oxide or dielectric capacitor510 couples the floating gate (FG) 540 to a control gate (CG). Thecontrol gate CG can be a heavily doped silicon substrate plate or asecond poly-silicon plate above the floating poly. The dielectric can beoxide, nitride, ONO or any other insulating material. A voltage appliedto CG will be capacitively coupled to FG node 540. The coupling ratio isdesigned such that 60-80 percent of CG voltage will be coupled to FGnode 540. To program this memory element, a negative charge must betrapped on the FG 540. This is done by applying positive Vpp voltage onCG, ground voltage on PL and a sufficiently high (Vcc) voltage on RL. CGcouples a high positive voltage onto FG 540 creating a high voltage dropacross diode 530. Electrons move to the FG 540 to reduce this electricfield. When the memory device is returned to normal voltages, a netnegative voltage remains trapped on the FG 540. To erase the memoryelement, the electrons must be removed from the floating gate. This canbe done by UV light, but an electrical method is more easily adapted.The CG is grounded, a very high voltage (Vpp+more to prevent a thresholdvoltage drop across 520) is applied to RL, and a very high voltage (Vpp)is applied to PL. Now a low voltage is coupled to FG with a very highpositive voltage on the source side of device 520. Diode 530 tunnelingremoves electrons from FG. This removal continues beyond a chargeneutral state for the isolated FG. When the memory device is returned tonormal voltages, a net positive voltage remains trapped on the FG 540.Under normal operation RL is grounded to isolate the memory element fromthe programming path, and PL is grounded. A positive intermediatevoltage Vcg is applied to CG terminal. FG voltage is denoted S₀. UnderCG bias, S₀ signal levels are designed to activate pass-gate logiccorrectly. Configuration circuit in FIG. 5B is only different to that inFIG. 5A by the capacitor 551 used to induce S₀ voltage. This is usefulwhen S₀ output is applied to leaky pass-gates, or low level leakagenodes. As gate oxide thicknesses reach below 50 angstroms, thepass-gates leak due to direct tunneling. These configuration circuits,and similarly constructed other configuration circuits, can be used inprogrammable logic devices. Those with ordinary skill in the art mayrecognize other methods for constructing configuration circuits togenerate a valid S₀ output.

SRAM memory technology has the advantage of not requiring a high voltageto configure memory. Discounting the pass-gate 310, the SRAM memorycircuit shown in FIG. 3A utilizes 6 extra configuration transistors toprovide programmability. That is a significant overhead compared toapplication specific circuits where the point to point connection can bedirectly made with metal. Similarly other programmable memory elementscapable of configuring pass-gate logic also carry a high silicon footprint. A cheaper method of constructing a vertically integrated SRAMcell is described in incorporated by reference application Ser. No.10/413,810 entitled “Semiconductor Latches and SRAM Devices”. For thispresent application, in a preferred embodiment, both the pass-gate andthe configuration circuit are built on thin-film semiconductor layerslocated vertically above the structured array circuits. The SRAM memoryelement, a thin-film transistor (TFT) CMOS latch as shown in FIG. 3A,comprises two back to back inverters formed on dual semiconductor thinfilm layers, substantially different from a semiconductor substratelayer and a gate poly layer used for structured array transistorconstruction. By constructing a programmable connectivity layer betweenany two metal layers, the wires do not need to go down to siliconsubstrate transistors to complete a connection, saving considerablerouting area for the device. Multiple connectivity layers can besandwiched between metal layers to provide a plurality of programminginterconnect structures for the device. The programmable wiretransistors sandwiched between two metal layers facilitate connectionsbetween two lower layer metal wires, two upper layer metal wires or alower layer and an upper layer metal wire. The programmable wireconnection is stacked above the structured array circuits with nopenalty on Silicon area and cost. The die size is determined by thestructured array foot-print. This allows the end ASIC where programmablewires are replaced by hard-wires to have the same cost as a stand alonestructured ASIC device. The SRAM latch is adapted to receive power andground voltages in addition to configuration signals. The twoprogramming access transistors for the TFT latch are also formed onthin-film layers. Thus in FIG. 3B, pass-gate 310 and all sixconfiguration transistors shown in 350 are constructed in TFT layers,vertically above the structured array cells. Transistor 310 is in theconducting path of the connection and needs to be a high performancetransistor. This is accomplished by Metal Induced Laser Crystallization(MILC) of the first poly-silicon thin film used for the transistors. Thevertical integration makes it economically feasible to add SRAM basedprogrammable wire circuits to a structured ASIC at a low manufacturingcost overhead to provide a programmable platform. Such verticalintegration can be extended to any other memory element besides SRAMmemory that can be constructed in TFT layers above structured arraycircuits.

New programmable logic devices utilizing thin-film transistorconfigurable circuits are disclosed in incorporated by referenceapplication Ser. No. 10/267,483, application Ser. No. 10/267,484 andapplication Ser. No. 10/267,511. Those three disclosures describe aprogrammable logic device and an application specific device fabricatedfrom the same base Silicon die. The PLD is fabricated with aprogrammable memory module, while the ASIC is fabricated with aconductive pattern in lieu of the memory. Both memory module andconductive pattern provide identical control of logic circuits that areformed on a substrate layer. For each set of programmable memory bitpatterns, there is a unique conductive pattern to achieve the sameunderlying logic functionality. The vertical integration of theconfiguration circuit leads to a significant cost reduction for the PLD,and the elimination of TFT memory for the ASIC allows an additional costreduction for the user. In the three disclosures, the pass-gateconnecting device is fabricated on substrate silicon and only theconfiguration circuit is fabricated in TFT layers. Such constructionhelps to keep the speed path of timing circuits completely unchangedbetween the programmable and the customized options. For some multimetal devices, constructing a wire connecting pass-gate in siliconsubstrate is constrictive. A wire from an upper metal has to reach thesilicon substrate many layers vertically below, taking up extra verticalconnections in addition to occupying substrate silicon area for thepass-gate. Present novel Programmable Structured Array disclosuredescribes a programmable wire structure that combines both pass-gateconnecting device and configuration circuit into one replaceable TFTmodule. Furthermore, the methodology disclosed is easily extendable to aplurality of programmable TFT modules sandwiched between multiple pairsof metal layers. Each TFT module may be located between any two metallayers in a vertical stack. The programmable TFT module may be replacedwith a hard-wire module to retain identical functionality between thetwo options. The TFT based pass-gate and memory integration to achievesaid programmable wire structure is briefly described next. A TFTtransfer gate integration in an FPGA is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,515,511, wherein the significant configuration circuit overheadincluding memory elements are located in a substrate layer. Furthermore,the disclosure shows no method to convert said programmable device to acheaper hard-wire option. Such integration does not lend to a low coststructured array programmable wire structure and economical same-dieconvertibility to a hard-wire structured ASIC.

FIG. 6 shows an implementation of vertically integrated circuits, wherethe programmable wire structure 652 is located above substrate circuits650. The structured array is constructed as substrate circuits 650. Thestructured array comprises NMOS, PMOS transistors & memory componentsand wires to form portions of circuit blocks and structured cells. TheTFT module 652 comprises NMOS, PMOS, Diodes, Capacitors, Memory, Wiresand other thin film components to form programmable wire circuits. Thememory element for the programmable wire module can be any one of fuselinks, anti-fuse capacitors, SRAM cells, DRAM cells, metal optionallinks, EPROM cells, EEPROM cells, flash cells, ferro-electric elements,electro-chemical cells, optical elements and magnetic elements that lendto this implementation. SRAM memory is used herein to illustrate thescheme and is not to be taken in a limiting sense. First, silicontransistors are deposited on a substrate in a first module layer 650.These transistors include NMOS, PMOS and other electronic devices. Thefirst module may also contain contacts and metal wires that connecttransistors to each other to form partial circuit blocks. Thisstructured array may include cells illustrated in FIG. 1A. These cellscapable of performing logic functions have one or more inputs andoutputs. Not all inputs and outputs are connected to each other in saidfirst module. All inputs and outputs are however connected to a topmetal node that denotes the last step of the first module 650. A modulelayer of removable TFT connections 652 comprising pass-gates and SRAMcells are positioned above the substrate circuits. These TFT circuitsfacilitate programmable connections between inputs and outputs of saidfirst module. These connections are constructed as programmable switchesbetween a first set of wires and a second set of wires. The first set ofwires contains connections to inputs and outputs of cells in said firstmodule. The second set of wires provides functional connections tocustomize an interconnect pattern. In a preferred embodiment, anadditional third module layer of interconnect wiring or routing circuit654 is formed above the removable TFT connections 652. The programmableTFT module provides programmable connectivity between two metal wires insaid first module, two metal wires in said third module, and a metalwire in said first module to a metal wire in said third module. Theprogrammable TFT module is replaceable with a hard-wire metal layer. Toallow this replacement, the design adheres to a hierarchical layoutstructure. As shown in FIG. 6, the TFT module is sandwiched between thesubstrate circuit layers below and the metal layers above electricallyconnecting to both. It also provides through connections “A” for thelower device layers to upper metal layers. The TFT module contains allcircuits required for the user to configure connections between two setsof wires. All other routing is in the layers above and below. Most ofthe programmable element configuration signals run inside the TFTmodule. TFT module connects to upper metal layers via connections “C”and to substrate layers via Connections “B”. Most of the replaceableprogrammable elements and its configuration wiring is in the“replaceable module” while all the fixed devices and fixed wiring forthe end ASIC is outside the “replaceable module”. In other embodiments,the replaceable module could exist between any two metal layers or asthe top most module layer satisfying the same device and routingconstraints. This description is equally applicable to any otherconfiguration memory element, and not limited to SRAM cells.

Fabrication of the IC also follows a modularized device formation.Formation of substrate circuits 650 and routing 654 is by utilizing astandard logic process flow used in the ASIC fabrication. Extraprocessing steps used for TFT module 652 fabrication are inserted intothe logic flow after circuit layer 650 is constructed. A full discussionof the vertical integration of the TFT module using extra masks andextra processing is described next.

The fabrication of thin-film transistors to construct configurationcircuits is disclosed in incorporated by reference application Ser. No.10/413,809 entitled “Semiconductor Switching Devices”. The followingterms used herein are acronyms associated with certain manufacturingprocesses. The acronyms and their abbreviations are as follows:

V_(T) Threshold voltage

LDN Lightly doped NMOS drain

LDP Lightly doped PMOS drain

LDD Lightly doped drain

RTA Rapid thermal annealing

Ni Nickel

Ti Titanium

TiN Titanium-Nitride

TiW Titanium-Tungsten

W Tungsten

S Source

D Drain

G Gate

ILD Inter layer dielectric

IMD Inter metal dielectric

C1 Contact-1

M1 Metal-1

GP Gate poly

P1 Poly-1

P− Positive light dopant (Boron species, BF₂)

N− Negative light dopant (Phosphorous, Arsenic)

P+ Positive high dopant (Boron species, BF₂)

N+ Negative high dopant (Phosphorous, Arsenic)

Gox Gate oxide

C2 Contact-2

LPCVD Low pressure chemical vapor deposition

CVD Chemical vapor deposition

ONO Oxide-nitride-oxide

LTO Low temperature oxide

MILC Metal induced laser crystallization

A logic process is used to fabricate CMOS devices on a substrate layerfor the fabrication of structured array circuits. These CMOS devices maybe used to build AND gates, OR gates, inverters, adders, multipliers,memory and pass-gate based logic functions in an integrated circuit.These circuits may include programmable logic circuits. Then a TFTmodule layer capable of providing CMOSFET transistors or ComplementaryGated FET (CGated-FET) transistors is inserted to said logic process inbetween two metal layers to construct a second set of complementarytransistors. Compared with CMOS devices, CGated FET devices are bulkconducting devices and work on the principles of JFETs. A fulldisclosure of these devices is provided in incorporated by referenceapplication Ser. No. 10/413,808 entitled “Insulated-Gate Field-EffectThin Film Transistors”. Pass-gate connections and configurationcircuitry is build with these second set of transistors. An exemplarylogic process in which TFT module is inserted after metal-2 layer mayinclude one or more following steps:

P-type substrate starting wafer

Shallow Trench isolation: Trench Etch, Trench Fill and CMP

Sacrificial oxide

PMOS V_(T) mask & implant

NMOS V_(T) mask & implant

Pwell implant mask and implant through field

Nwell implant mask and implant through field

Dopant activation and anneal

Sacrificial oxide etch

Gate oxidation/Dual gate oxide option

Gate poly (GP) deposition

GP mask & etch

LDN mask & implant

LDP mask & implant

Spacer oxide deposition & spacer etch

N+ mask and NMOS N+ G, S, D implant

P+ mask and PMOS P+ G, S, D implant

Ni deposition

RTA anneal-Ni salicidation (S/D/G regions & interconnect)

Unreacted Ni etch

ILD oxide deposition & CMP

Contact mask & etch

Contact plug fill & CMP

Metal-1 deposition

Metal-1 mask and etch

IMD-1 oxide deposition & CMP

Via-1 mask & etch

Via-1 plug fill & CMP

Metal-2 deposition

Metal-2 mask and etch

IMD-2 oxide deposition & CMP

After IMD-2 is formed TFT CGated-FET transistors are formed by insertinga TFT process module. This module has to be compatible with the priorlogic processing requirements. Programmable wire connections formed inthis TFT layer connects metal-2 to metal-2, metal-2 to metal-3 andmetal-3 to metal-3. FIG. 7 shows the process cross-sections for apreferred embodiment of a TFT process to fabricate thin film pass-gatesand SRAM latches. In other embodiments of the process shown in FIG. 7,the TFT module is inserted between any two metal layers. In yet anotherembodiment, CMOS FET transistors are built on TFT module to form theprogrammable wire connections. In yet other embodiments, differentprocessing steps may be used to construct complementary transistors andmemory elements to construct programmable circuitry in said TFT module.The processing sequence in FIG. 7.1 through 7.7 describes the physicalconstruction of complementary Gated-FET devices for pass-gate 310 andstorage circuits 350 shown in FIG. 3B. The process shown in FIG. 7includes adding one or more following steps to the exemplary logicprocess discussed earlier after IMD-2 oxide deposition and CMP step.

Via-2 mask & etch

Via-2 plug fill: Ti, TiN, W, and seed Ni deposition

Via-2 plug CMP (Ni filling the center of polished via-2)

˜300 A poly-1 (amorphous Polysilicon-Germanium) deposition

Blanket Vtn N− implant (Gated-NFET V_(T))

Vtp mask & P− implant (Gated-PFET V_(T))

Metal induced laser crystallization (MILC) for single crystal growth

TFT Gox (70 A PECVD) deposition

Buried contact (BC) mask and Gox etch

500 A P2 (crystalline poly-2) deposition

Blanket P+ implant (Gated-NFET gate & interconnect)

N+ mask & implant (Gated-PFET gate & interconnect)

P2 mask & etch

Blanket LDN Gated-NFET N tip implant

LDP mask and Gated-PFET P tip implant

Spacer LTO deposition

Spacer LTO etch to form spacers & expose P1

Ni deposition and RTA salicidation

Fully salicidation of exposed P1 S/D regions

LDN, LDP, N+, and P+ dopant activation anneal

Excess Ni etch

IMD-3 oxide deposition & CMP

Via-3 mask & etch

W plug formation & CMP

M4 deposition and back end metallization

The TFT process steps described consists of creating Gated-NFET &Gated-PFET poly-silicon transistors. After a pre-selected metal layer ispatterned and etched, the subsequent IMD is deposited, and polished byCMP techniques to a desired thickness. In the shown embodiment in FIG.7, TFT module is inserted after metal-2. Via-2 mask is defined andetched. The Via-2 plug formation is modified from typical processingtechniques to include Ni metal to help reduce poly crystallizationtemperature. In other embodiments, the Via-2 plug may have a differentseed metal to assist MILC, or have no seed metal at all. Loweringtemperature makes the TFT module compatible with Aluminum and Coppermetallization schemes used in sub 0.18 micron technologies. In a firstembodiment shown in FIG. 7.8A, Via-2 is filled with Ti 701, TiN 702 forthe glue layer followed by W 703 and Ni 704 deposition to fill theplugs. The W 703 thickness is chosen to cover most of the via-hole withW and for Ni 704 to fill just the center. Wafer surface is then CMPpolished as shown in FIG. 7.8B to leave the fill materials only in theVia-2 holes. After the polish, Ni is located only at the very center ofVia-2 holes. In a second embodiment shown in FIG. 7.9A, Via-2 is filledwith Ti 711, TiN 712 for the glue layer followed by Ni 714 and W 713deposition to fill the plugs. The Ni 714 thickness is chosen to thinlycover Ti/TiN glue layer, and for W 713 to completely fill the via-hole.Wafer surface is then CMP polished as shown in FIG. 7.9B to leave thefill materials only in the Via-2 holes. After the polish, Ni is locatedas a thin ring adjacent to Ti/TiN glue layer inside the Via-2 holes.These methods and others easily adapted by one skilled in the artprovides Ni nucleation sites inside the via-holes to grow single crystalgrains from deposited poly silicon during a later MILC step. Thethickness of Ni is controlled to form Nickel-Salicide only near theproximity of the via-hole.

Then, a first amorphous P1 poly layer is deposited by LPCVD to a desiredthickness as shown in FIG. 7.1. In the preferred embodiment, P1 is mixedwith germanium to lower the temperature required for polycrystallization. The P1 thickness is between 50 A and 1000 A, andpreferably between 200 A and 300 A. This poly layer P1 is used for thechannel, source, and drain regions for both Gated-NFET and Gated-PFETTFT's. P1 is implanted with blanket N− V_(T) adjust implant forGated-NFET devices followed by a masked P− V_(T) adjust implant forGated-PFET devices. The first doping can also be done in-situ duringpoly deposition instead of the blanket implant shown in FIG. 7.1. As theP1 thickness is small, a uniform doping profile is obtained in the body.The implant doses and P1 thickness are optimized to get the requiredthreshold voltages for Gated-PFET & Gated-NFET devices. These parametersare further optimized to completely turn off devices by fully depletingtransistor body regions, and improve transistor on to off currentratios. In another embodiment CMOS transistors are formed on this P1body region, wherein thresholds adjust implants and P1 film thicknessare optimized for those device performances. In a first embodiment theP1 film is laser crystallized by standard MILC techniques. Germaniummixing with polysilicon and the presence of Ni nucleation sites at everyvia-2 center reduces the poly crystallization temperatures below thatmandated by previously deposited metal layers. Single crystal formationof thin film P1 provides a high mobility, low resistance pass-gateswitch to connect wires. In a second embodiment, the P1 crystallizationis done after the P1 is etched into islands. In the later approach, eachP1 island has at least one Via-2 with Ni at the center of via as seedmaterial. P1 in each island grows into a single grain with the singlegrain emanating from the Ni Salicidation from via center.

P1 is patterned and etched to form the transistor body regions as shownin FIG. 7.2. In the shown embodiment, P1 is also used for Via-2 toppedestals. In other embodiments, Via-3 plugs are directly stacked onVia-2 plugs without the need for poly pedestals in between via. Thepedestals may be implanted at a later stage, but the implant type isirrelevant as P1 is fully salicided at a later stage in the preferredembodiment.

In another embodiment, the V_(T) implantation is done with a masked P−implant followed by masked N− implant. In yet another embodiment, theV_(T) implantation step is performed after the P1 is etched. Thenpatterned and implanted P1 is subjected to dopant activation. In oneembodiment MILC is avoided by using an RTA cycle instead to activate &crystallize the poly after it is doped and patterned to near singlecrystal form. The Ni in Via-2 center is salicided during the RTA or MILCcycle seeding a phase transition in poly-crystalline silicon to singlephase. P1 surrounding Via-2 center in contact with Ni is salicided,while the remaining P1 where transistors are built is crystallized tonear single crystal form.

Then as shown in FIG. 7.3 the TFT gate dielectric layer is deposited.The dielectric is deposited by PECVD techniques to a desired thicknessin the 30-300 A range, desirably 70 A-100 A thick. In other embodiments,this gate may be grown thermally by using a low temperature RTA. Thisgate material could be an oxide, nitride, oxynitride, ONO structure, orany other dielectric material combination used as gate dielectrics inthe semiconductor industry. The dielectric thickness is determined bythe voltage level of the process. A buried contact mask (BC) is used toopen selected P1 to P2 contact regions and the dielectric is removed ontop of P1 layer in the contacts. BC could be used on P1 pedestals toform P1/P2 stacks over via. This BC is used to connect the gateelectrode of the pass-gate to the inverter output, and to form thecross-couple connections in the SRAM cell. In another embodiment, BC isavoided by using the upper metal to make the necessary TFT layerconnections.

Then second poly P2 layer, 300 A to 2000 A thick, preferably 500 A isdeposited. P2 is deposited in amorphous poly-silicon form by LPCVD asshown in FIG. 7.3. P2 is blanket implanted with P+ dopant as shown by(a) in FIG. 7.3. This P+ is later used for P+ doped P2 interconnect andGated-NFET gate regions. The implant energy ensures no dopantpenetration into the 70 A gate oxide underneath the P2 layer. An N+ maskas shown by (b) in FIG. 7.3, is used to select Gated-PFET device gateregions and N+ interconnect, and implanted with N+ dopant. This N+ doseis higher than blanket P+ dopant to counter-dope regions that receiveboth implant types. This P+/N+ implants can be done with P+ maskfollowed by N+ mask quite easily. The V_(T) implanted P1 source, drainand channel regions are completely covered by P2 layer and receives noP+ or N+ implant.

P2 layer is defined into Gated-NFET & Gated-PFET gate regions, via-2stacked pedestals if needed and local P2 interconnect lines and thenetched as shown in FIG. 7.4. The gate regions are orthogonal to P1 bodyregions. Source & drain P1 regions are self aligned to P2 gate edgeswith P2 gate covering P1 body regions. The P2 layer etching is continueduntil the dielectric oxide is exposed over P1 areas uncovered by P2(source, drain, P1 resistors, P1 pedestals). All devices are blanketimplanted with LDN N− dopant designed for Gated-NFET LDD regions asshown by (a) in FIG. 7.4. Then Gated-PFET devices are mask selected andimplanted with LDP P− dopant as shown by (b) in FIG. 7.4. The implantenergy for both ensures full dopant penetration through the residualoxide into the S/D tip regions adjacent to P2 layers & P1 interconnectlines. Both LDN and LDP implant doses are small enough not to affect theN+ and P+ gate doping levels on P2 regions.

A spacer oxide is deposited over the LDD implanted P2 using LTO or PECVDtechniques. The oxide is etched to form spacers as shown in FIG. 7.5.The spacer etch leaves a residual oxide over P1 in a first embodiment,and completely removes oxide over exposed P1 in a preferred embodiment.Nickel is deposited over P2 and salicided to form a low resistiverefractory metal on exposed poly by RTA. Both exposed P1 and P2 regionsare salicided. Un-reacted Ni is etched off. The Ni thickness is chosento fully consume all of P1 in the exposed P1 regions. As P2 is thickerthan P1, P2 is only partially salicided. After salicidation, P1 is leftonly in the LDD regions underneath spacers and body regions underneathP2 gates. This 100 A-500 A thick Ni-Salicide connects the opposite dopedpoly-2 regions together providing low resistive P2 wires forinterconnect. It also provides fully salicided P1 wires forinterconnect. Thus the TFT module comprises two layers of salicided polyinterconnect wires. In one embodiment, the residual gate dielectric leftafter the spacer prevents P1 layer salicidation. This approach can beused for MOSFET device formation as disclosed in incorporated byreference application Ser. No. 10/413,810. In a second embodiment, asthe residual oxide is removed over exposed P1 after spacer etch, P1 ispartially or fully salicided. The thickness of Ni deposition may be usedto control full or partial salicidation of P1 regions. Fully salicidedS/D regions up to spacer edge facilitate high drive current due to lowersource and drain resistances.

An LTO film is deposited over P2 layer, and polished flat with CMP. Thisforms IMD-3 of the processing steps. A third via mask Via-3 is used toopen holes into the TFT P2 and P1 regions as shown in FIG. 7.6. Ti/TiNglue layer and W is used to fill the plugs and CMP polished. M3 isdeposited, patterned and etched. As shown in FIG. 7.6, the TFT moduleconnects to substrate circuits through Via-2 connections, and to uppermetal layers through Via-3 connections.

An on pass-gate in the TFT module connects either end of the transistor.Such a connection is mapped to a metal mask option as shown in FIG. 7.7by connecting the two via nodes with a metal link. An off pass-gatemakes no connection, and that is mapped to a custom metal mask by adisconnected metal link. Thus a single custom metal layer can duplicatethe programmable connection pattern in FIG. 7.6 identically. This custommask can be generated by a software program using the bit-pattern in theSRAM bits. Each memory element having a logic output “one” defines aconnection, while each memory element having a “zero” logic outputdefines a disconnect state. The memory bit map can be used to generatethe hard-wire custom metal mask.

During the customization, the base die and the data in those remainingmask layers do not change making the logistics associated with chipmanufacture simple. Removal of the SRAM module provides a lower coststandard logic process for the final ASIC construction with the addedbenefit of a smaller die size. When the resistance of the on pass-gateand the replaced metal link match, the design timing is unaffected bythis migration as lateral metal routing and substrate level transistorsare untouched. Gated-FET transistor on resistance is discussed inincorporated by reference application Ser. No. 10/413,808, and shown tobe very sensitive to Vcc value. Thus a resistance match can be achievedas follows. In the TFT embodiment, pass-gate transistor channel width,P1 doping and P1 transistor channel length govern the on transistorresistance R_(ON) as given by:

R _(ON)=ρ_(S0) *L _(S) /[W _(S)*((1+γ)T _(S))] Ohms  (EQ 1)

Where W_(S) is the device channel width, L_(S) is the device channellength, T_(S) is the P1 film thickness and ρ_(S0) is the P1 resistivityat selected doping level for thin film channel region. Parameter γabsorbs the channel modulation effect due to Vcc value above flat-bandvoltage (V_(FB)). The γ value depends on the depth of the accumulationregion into thin film channel and can be in the range 1.0 to 5.0 basedon (Vcc-V_(FB)) value. As described in Eq-1, R_(ON) is significantlyreduced by the SRAM output voltage that drives the on transistor gate.Higher the drive voltage, lower the resistance. The SRAM Vcc can beprovided as a variable voltage to the user. By raising the voltagelevel, γ is increased, R_(ON) is lowered, and the programmable wirestructure will show improved timing characteristics. A metal thickness,resistivity, width and length to replace the TFT pass-gate is chosensuch that the final resistance closely match pass-gate on resistance atsome elevated Vcc level. Metal line resistance R_(M) can be expressedas:

R _(M)=ρ_(M) *L _(M) /[W _(M) *T _(M)] Ohms  (EQ 2)

Where W_(M) is the metal width, L_(M) is the metal length, T_(M) is themetal thickness and ρ_(M) is the metal resistivity. Thus the designmigration can allow two possibilities to the user: (i) timing keptidentical at normal operating Vcc level between the two options, (ii)timing is improved but identical with an elevated Vcc level in theprogrammable option. This provides a very useful timing improvementoption to the user, the improvement verifiable in the programmable TFToption prior to conversion. As the programmable structured ASIC is notmeant for manufacturing under the second scenario, time dependant dieelectric breakdown (TDDB) driven reliability is not a concern. Abilityto generate a custom mask by a Software algorithm guarantees an originalprogrammable wire structure design to port to a customized hard-wiresolution for the user. A full disclosure of the ASIC migration from anoriginal FPGA is provided in the incorporated by reference applicationsdiscussed above.

The ASIC migration path for the point to point wire connection is shownin FIG. 8. The TFT option has pass-gate 810 controlled by an SRAM memorycell 830 as shown in FIG. 8A. As shown in FIG. 8B, an SRAM output atlogic one is mapped to metal connection 840 for the point to pointconnection. When the SRAM bit output is at a logic zero, the point topoint connection is left open as shown by 850 in FIG. 8C. A 2:1 wire MUXconnection is shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 9A, a single memory bit 930selects which input is connected to output. Memory bit 930 outputpolarity selects the programmable path for the connection. This 2:1 MUXis mapped into one of two possible hard-wire masks as shown in FIG. 9Band FIG. 9C respectively. In FIG. 9B, I₀ is connected to O by metal link941, and in FIG. 9C, I₁ is connected to O by metal link 952.

In FIG. 6, the third module layer is formed substantially above thefirst and second module layers, wherein interconnect and routing signalsare formed to connect the circuit blocks within the first and secondmodule layers. Alternatively, the third module layer can be formedsubstantially below the first and second module layer with interconnectand routing signals formed to connect the circuit blocks within thefirst and second module layers. Alternatively, the third and fourthmodule layers positioned above and below the second module layerrespectively, wherein the third and fourth module layers provideinterconnect and routing signals to connect the circuit blocks withinthe first and second module layers.

As the discussions demonstrate, memory controlled pass-gate logicelements provide a powerful tool to make switches. The ensuing high costof memory can be drastically reduced by the 3-dimensional integration ofconfiguration elements and wire pass-gates and by the replaceablemodularity concept for said circuits. These advances allow designing arouting block to overcome the deficiencies in current FPGA designs. Inone aspect, a cheaper memory element allows use of more memory forprogrammable wire connections. This allows the flexibility ofconstructing logic blocks on substrate silicon, and constructing routingblocks vertically above the logic blocks. The substrate level circuitprogrammability and the routing level circuit programmability are keptseparate. This enhances the ability to build large logic blocks (i.e.course-grain advantage) while maintaining smaller element logic fitting(i.e. fine-grain advantage). Furthermore larger grains need lessconnectivity: neighboring cells and far-away cells. That furthersimplifies the interconnect structure. These interconnect points areelevated to a programmable TFT layer, and a mapping hard-wire layer toprovide the customer both design flexibility and manufacturing costadvantage. A programmable wire structure utilizing the methods shown sofar is discussed next.

A point to point switch in accordance with this teaching is shown inFIG. 10A. In that, point A is connected to point B with a TFT pass-gate1010. This device has high performance single crystal Si body from thegermanium and MILC techniques employed in the manufacturing process.These TFT transistors are also used to build the configuration circuits,including memory elements, as shown in dotted box 1050. Pass-gate 1010and configuration circuit 1050 is located in between two metal layers.The configuration circuit 1050 includes a thin film transistor memoryelement. This memory element is either a volatile or a non volatilememory element. The volatile memory is comprised of DRAM, SRAM oroptical memory device. The non-volatile memory is comprised of EPROM,EEPROM, ferro-electric, electro-chemical, magnetic, fuse-link oranti-fuse element. FIG. 10A illustrates an SRAM embodiment forconfiguration circuit. The configuration circuit 1050 outputs a controlsignal S₀ to control pass-gate 1010. This S₀ voltage level may be at Vccor ground based on memory bit polarity. The S₀ voltage may also be at anelevated Vcc when the SRAM is run at that higher Vcc level. Theconfiguration circuit 1050 includes circuitry to write data into thememory element. Thus output S₀ can be programmed to logic 1 or logic 0by changing memory bit polarity. The configuration circuit includes aplurality of memory bits to program a plurality of pass-gates. Thememory elements in the configuration circuit are arranged in an arrayfashion to allow either individual access or row by row access or columnby column access to memory elements. The configuration memory circuitincludes generic SRAM memory based capability to store user specifieddata. Configuration circuit includes metal wires to provide some limitedconfiguration signals, power and ground to memory elements. These wiresmay be salicided polysilicon wires.

In one embodiment the SRAM memory is comprised of TFT devices to formthe circuit shown in FIG. 3A, further comprising TFT transistors 301 and302 to access the latch, and TFT inverters 303 and 304 to form abistable latch. These transistors are MOSFET or Gated-FET devices. Inpreferred embodiment, signal line S₀ is directly coupled to pass-gate1010 in FIG. 10A by a buried contact between P1 and P2.

The point to point switch with TFT configuration circuits in FIG. 10A isdenoted by the symbol shown in FIG. 10B. In FIG. 10B, the circle with across represents the configuration circuit containing a TFT SRAM memory(or any other 3-dimensional memory) element. All transistors in FIG. 10Brepresent TFT devices fabricated on a re-crystallized poly layer. Thepass-gate could be constructed on separate TFT layers, withconfiguration circuits on more TFT layers integrated above that. A 4×4programmable wire cross-point switch matrix utilizing the point to pintswitch in FIG. 10A is shown in FIG. 10C. In FIG. 10C, every intersectionpoint between the V-lines (V1 to V4) and H-lines (H1 to H4) is populatedwith a point to point switch. This could be fully populated as shown, orpartially populated depending on the need. The TFT circuit for FIG. 10Chas 16 pass-gates and 16 6T-memory elements with configuration accesstransistors to change memory data. A programmable means to configure thecross-point matrix include setting memory data to achieve a userspecified connecting pattern. Compared to standard planar SRAMtechnology, the new cross-point wire switch has all of 112 TFTtransistors vertically above the substrate module, reducing the die arearequired drastically. Furthermore, planar substrate SRAM contain CMOSstructures and is impacted by N-well related spacing rules for latch-upprevention. TFT has no such latch-up restrictions providing extra areasavings for the TFT scheme. The new point to point switch allows over80% reduction in silicon utilization for such wire connections.

The programmable wire structure in FIG. 10C has a plurality ofprogrammable interconnect patterns. The exact connection is programmedby the user. For each programmed pattern, there is a unique hard-wirepattern that duplicates the connections. Two such hard-wire connectionpatterns are shown in FIG. 10D and FIG. 10E respectively. In FIG. 10D,one of H wires is connected to one of V wires. Specifically, H1-V2,H2-V4, H3-V3 and H4-V1 are connected. This outcome is achieved in theprogrammable option by setting those cross-point bits to output logicone, while the remaining bits are set to output logic zero. In FIG. 10E,V1 is connected to H1 and H2, V3-H3 and V4-H4. The bit maps for memorydata differ between the two connecting patterns in FIG. 10D and FIG.10E. Each bit map generates the corresponding unique hard-wire pattern.

The programmable switches allow three types of metal connections: lowermetal lines to each other, upper metal lines to each other, and lowermetal lines to upper metal lines. These are shown in FIG. 1. In FIG.11A, a pass-gate switch connecting a lower metal line 1105 to uppermetal line 1106 is shown. The pass-gate comprises a crystallized P1 bodyregion 1101 and a salicided P2 gate electrode 1102. The gate region ofthe transistor is the P2 1102 overlap region crossing P1 1101. A Via-21103 thru-hole connects one end of pass-gate active region to the lowermetal 1105. A Via-3 1104 connects the other end of pass-gate activeregion to upper metal 1106. Ni is contained at the center of Via-2. A 6Tor 5T SRAM cell, also fabricated on the same layers as 1101 and 1102(not shown in FIG. 11A), drives the gate 1102. When the SRAM celloutputs a logic one, the pass-gate is on and metal line 1105 connects tometal line 1106. The resistance between the two metal nodes is the onresistance of channel in P1 1101 body region. FIG. 11B illustrates aprogrammable pass-gate between two upper metal wires 1116 and 1117. Bothvia 1113 and 1114 are Via-3 thru-holes connecting TFT layer to uppermetal. Those via have no seed Ni and use regular via processing. FIG.11C illustrates a programmable pass-gate between two lower metal wires1125 and 1127. Both via 1123 and 1124 are Via-2 thru-holes connectingTFT layer to lower metal. Those via have seed Ni during via processingto facilitate crystal growth in P1 layer.

In one embodiment of this novel programmable wire switch methodology,the mask programmable metal pattern shown in FIG. IC is constructed asshown in FIG. 12. Only 8 vertical lower level metal wires 1202 and 4horizontal upper level metal wires 1204 are shown to demonstrate themethodology. In FIG. 12 there is a plurality of horizontal wires 1202and a plurality of vertical wires 1204. The lower level wires connect toa bottom plurality of via connections 1203 that connect to the middleTFT layers. These via connections are similar to 1123 and 1124 shown inFIG. 11C. The upper metal wires 1204 connect to a plurality of upper viaconnections 1201 that connect to TFT layers. These via connections aresimilar to 1113 and 1114 shown in FIG. 11B. All pass-gates are coupledto these via points, even though for illustrative purposes FIG. 12 showssome pass-gate connections terminating on wires. An array of SRAMcontrolled programmable pass-gates 1205 makes a cross-point matrix toconnect the metal grid in FIG. 12. These switches 1205 make all 3-typesof connections shown in FIG. 11 and are sandwiched between the two metallayers. Lower metal wires 1202 belong to the first module layer 650 inFIG. 6. Upper metal wires 1204 belong to the third module layer 654 inFIG. 6. These wires are pre-fabricated and need no replacements betweenthe programmable and hard-wire options. Only the TFT P1 and P2transistors need to be replaced in the hard-wire mask: replacing the onpass-gate with an equivalent resistance metal shunt. Many otherpass-gate connections can be provided to complete very complexprogrammable connections between the wires. The best wire structure andthe programmable options are optimized in the product definition phaseto provide over 99% routability to the end user.

New programmable wire structures are described to provide a userprogrammable option to Structured Array and Gate Array type ASICdevices. Such an option improves the time to solution and reduces theinitial verification cost of a new design. The programmable switchescontain pass-gates and configuration circuits constructed in thin-filmlayers. The TFT layers are sandwiched between two metal layers,facilitating connections between wires in said two metal layers. Onconduction of the switch is improved by process conditions thatfacilitate phase changes in poly-silicon. It is further improved byallowing the user to increase Vcc in the TFT module. The processing ofTFT module includes a seed metal in a lower via structure that isexposed to first poly thin film. TFT pass-gates and 6T or 5T SRAM cellsallow very powerful MUX construction to connect metal wires. Data wiresdriven by buffers in the substrate are routed using a matrix of point topoint TFT switches that are customized by the user. Once the programmingpattern is finalized, and the device is tested and verified forperformance, the TFT cells can be eliminated by hard-wire connections.Such conversions allow the user a lower cost and more reliable endproduct. These products offer an enormous advantage in lowering NREcosts and improving TTS in the ASIC design methodology in the industry.

Although an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, andvarious modifications thereof, have been described in detail herein withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to this precise embodiment and the describedmodifications, and that various changes and further modifications may beeffected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A programmable semiconductor device, comprising: a programmableswitch to couple two nodes; and a configurable element to program saidswitch wherein the configurable element and the switch are positionedabove or below a transistor element constructed on a semiconductorsubstrate layer.
 2. The device in claim 1, wherein said programmableswitch comprises a first state that couples said two nodes, and a secondstate that decouples said two nodes.
 3. The device of claim 1, whereinthe configurable element generates a control signal to program saidprogrammable switch.
 4. The device in claim 1, wherein said programmableswitch and said configurable element are integrated into a singleelement.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein a said node is coupled to aconductor located above or below the switch.
 6. The device of claim 1,further comprising a configuration circuit to configure saidconfigurable element.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein saidconfigurable element comprises a random access memory element or a readonly memory element.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein said configurableelement comprises one of fuse link, anti-fuse capacitor, laser-fuse,SRAM cell, DRAM cell, metal optional link, EPROM cell, EEPROM cell,flash cell, ferro-electric element, photo-electric element, opticalelement, electro-chemical element, electrolytic element, Carbonnano-tube, electro-mechanical element, electro-magnetic element,resistance modulating element and magnetic element.
 9. The device ofclaim 1, wherein said switch and the configurable element are located inone or more planes.
 10. The device of claim 1, wherein said programmableswitch comprises a thin film transistor.
 11. A programmablesemiconductor device, comprising: a user programmable switch comprisinga configurable element and a device to configure the element arepositioned above or below a transistor element constructed on asemiconductor substrate layer.
 12. The device in claim 11, wherein saidprogrammable switch comprises a first state that couples two nodes, anda second state that decouples two nodes.
 13. The device of claim 12,wherein the configurable element is configured to couple or decouple thetwo nodes.
 14. The device in claim 11, wherein said programmable switchand said configurable element are integrated into a single element. 15.The device of claim 11, wherein a said node is coupled to a conductorlocated above or below the switch.
 16. The device of claim 1, furthercomprising a configuration circuit to configure said configurableelement.
 17. The device of claim 1, wherein said configurable elementcomprises one of fuse link, anti-fuse capacitor, laser-fuse, SRAM cell,DRAM cell, metal optional link, EPROM cell, EEPROM cell, flash cell,ferro-electric element, photo-electric element, optical element,electro-chemical element, electrolytic element, Carbon nano-tube,electro-mechanical element, electro-magnetic element, resistancemodulating element and magnetic element.
 18. The device of claim 1,wherein said switch and the configurable element are located in one ormore planes.
 19. A programmable semiconductor device, comprising: aprogrammable switch comprising a configurable element is positionedabove or below a transistor element.
 20. The device of claim 19, whereinthe switch comprises a first state that couples two nodes and a secondstate that decouples the two nodes.